[luis]

Expert pd, with some history of "funny" bids.
IMPS.

Problem 1:

Scoring: IMP

---

Pd opens 3h. (If you bid 4d pd will bid 4h, what else?)
What do you bid and what is your plan?

Problem 2:

Scoring: IMP

---

West opens 1s and your pd overcalls 1NT (!).
You play "System-Off" in this position. 2c and 2d are to play as well as 2h.
2NT is invitational. 3x bids are invitational and the 2s cue is forcing.
Over 2s pd bids 3h. What now ? What is your plan?

[inquiry]

luis, on Mar 16 2004, 02:15 PM, said:

Expert pd, with some history of "funny" bids.
IMPS.

Problem 1:

Scoring: IMP

---

Pd opens 3h. (If you bid 4d pd will bid 4h, what else?)
What do you bid and what is your plan?

Problem 2:

Scoring: IMP

---

West opens 1s and your pd overcalls 1NT (!).
You play "System-Off" in this position. 2c and 2d are to play as well as 2h.
2NT is invitational. 3x bids are invitational and the 2s cue is forcing.
Over 2s pd bids 3h. What now ? What is your plan?

Problem #1. Playing with a Robson/Segal-primed partner (the kind I like to play with), I will bid 3NT to play, and hope I can make it. At favorable vulnerability opposite a first seat preempt, I do not have slam ambition. If my partner was in second seat at this vulnerability, I would expect a more classical preempt and would make some slam try noises.

Problem #2. Grand slam is very possible, not to mention small slam (well, as long as partner did not psyche the 1NT overcall). Your methods are somewhat flawed, what would a leap to 4♦ have show? Would 4♠ at anytime be exclusion blackwood? Since I don't know how to continue here with these methods I would bid what I expect to make, 6♦, but you make seven opposite quite a few minimum 1NT overcalls.... including having fair play against a dredful subminimum hand like....
KJxx Axx xx AQxxx, on the anticipated ♣-♠ squeeze.

Ben

[flytoox]

inquiry, on Mar 16 2004, 07:56 PM, said:

Problem #1. Playing with a Robson/Segal-primed partner (the kind I like to play with), I will bid 3NT to play, and hope I can make it. At favorable vulnerability opposite a first seat preempt, I do not have slam ambition. If my partner was in second seat at this vulnerability, I would expect a more classical preempt and would make some slam try noises.

Ben

Ben, if you are happy with 3N, then you should consider 4H.

Fly

[flytoox]

luis, on Mar 16 2004, 07:15 PM, said:

Expert pd, with some history of "funny" bids.
IMPS.

Problem 1:

Scoring: IMP

---

Pd opens 3h. (If you bid 4d pd will bid 4h, what else?)
What do you bid and what is your plan?

Problem 2:

Scoring: IMP

---

West opens 1s and your pd overcalls 1NT (!).
You play "System-Off" in this position. 2c and 2d are to play as well as 2h.
2NT is invitational. 3x bids are invitational and the 2s cue is forcing.
Over 2s pd bids 3h. What now ? What is your plan?

I will try 5H. I may go down if pd's suit is worse than qjtxxxx, but i think it worths to take this risk.

As for the second hand, 6N seems a reasonable gamble. The RHO will have to lead, rather than the opener. This reduce the chances of cashing two quick tricks, if any.

[the hog]

Problem 1 - depends on partnership understanding. With most people I play with I would just bid 4H. With one I would bid 5H asking for trump quality. With another I would pass and hope to make it (not really, but close)

Problem 2 - Don't really like my methods. I will bid what I think I can make - 6D

[inquiry]

flytoox, on Mar 16 2004, 03:46 PM, said:

Ben, if you are happy with 3N, then you should consider 4H.

Fly

Fly, I play with the same wacky guys (well type of guys) that Ron (the hog) plays with. When my partner opens 1st seat not vul versus vul, I expect a pretty much big dog of a hand. Here is a hand from the out-of-print Robson/Segal's book that would open with a preempt of 3♣ in first seat under these conditions.

---

Now imagine something similar with 5 or 6 ♥'s opposite. I am in the school with Ron, that passing and hope to make under these conditions is not a horrible idea. But I am hoping for 9 tricks in NT cause my hand is just really good. I just hope THEY don;t take three hearts to beat me in 3NT...

I will admit with a more "pedestrian" partner, I would be a little more aggressive with the hand, but Luis's characterization of the partner makes 3NT clearly the winning call imho.

Ben

[Cascade]

Problem 1

After:

3♥ 4♦
4♥ ...

I raise to 5♥ we will have a slam if partner's suit is playable for one loser.

Problem 2

I make a natural forcing 4♦.

[mishovnbg]

1. 3NT and pray p to stop ♥ suit, kidding, 3 cards in ♦ or at least ♦ Jx, else why he open...
2. 6♦, how many time you bid&make grand after normal opps opening?
Misho

[the hog]

On reflection, Ben is right. I prefer 3N on hand 1. Ben, would you consider 4H without the CT?!

[joker_gib]

Hi all,


1)
In my partnership 4♥ denies good trump quality (we open 4♦ with at least 2 of the top honors) so I will bid 4♥ hoping not to loose more than 3 trump tricks !!

2) You have 15 HCP and partner has at least 15 HCP (if not psychic !!). So opener has opened light probably with 6 spades and ♣ honors because he did not open a weak 2♠. The only thing to be sure is that there aren't 2 ♣ losers. I would therefore bid 4♦ (forcing after cue bid). If I hear 4♥ by partner I would bid 4♠ showing a slam try with no ♣ control.

Alain

[inquiry]

The_Hog, on Mar 16 2004, 08:13 PM, said:

On reflection, Ben is right. I prefer 3N on hand 1. Ben, would you consider 4H without the CT?!

I have to admit the club T9... makes bidding 3NT clearer. Give me ♣A9xx then I have to worry a good bit more. Since it is imps, and since I will make game opposite all but the very worse opening bids partner could have, I will still bid game, but now 4♥'s would in fact probably be the best bid.

But I think what to bid with this hand is more along the lines of who you are playing with. If I was playing with my mother, I could bid 6♥'s with confidence over the 3♥ bid because she only preempts with solid suits (one loser or less)... and so doesn't preempt much. With an average person who never looks at vulnerability and seat position for their preempts, I could make a mild slam try. But like I said with a follower of pressure bidding as a partner (and I take Luis's description of a partner who has "a history of funny bids" to fall into this group), pass even occurs to me that it can be the right bid. I am actually hoping on winning 9 tricks in my hand and like misho said, in seriousness, just hope they don't take too many heart tricks to beat me.

[inquiry]

mishovnbg, on Mar 16 2004, 08:12 PM, said:

2. 6♦, how many time you bid&make grand after normal opps opening?
Misho

Not very often, but this is in all probability the hand for it. I am very tempted to bid a blind 7♦... what I would have liked to bid is 4♠ over 1NT as exclusion blackwood. I am fairly certain my partner will have two ♣ honors (and if not, then one plus AK of ♠) so 6♦ is always "safe". If he has both ♥ and ♣A and his 16 hcp or so, grand slam is probably a good bet.

BTW, this one you can apply the ZAR thingees too... Your hand is worth 38 ZAR points. Even if your partner is 4-3-3-3 with 15 hcp, with two ACES and no kings (something like... .S-QJxx h-AJxx D-Jxx C-AQxx)... his ZAR count would be 27 (a sort of minimum for ZAR for a 1NT bid...). 38+27=65, which is in the grand slam zone already.. before he gets 1 more ZAR point for the diamond JACK, and you count your "extra" points for diamond fit more than 8 (you have in this model, a 11 card fit). But looking at ZAR points doesn't help you if your off two quick tricks, which is why exclusion blackwood is required or you are just guessing.

If you allow me to bid 4♠ exclusion, I will bid grand slam anytime partner has two aces outside of spades.

Ben

[Trpltrbl]

4♥ seems to be the right bid, but I think I will go with 3 NT, 1 tricks less, and very hard to stop. Slam is possible but not with my pd's hehehe.

6♦ bid what you can make, maybe 7, but my pd's never ever have the perfect hand.

Mike

[mishovnbg]

Spoiler

-----------------------------------

Hi Ben!

"If you allow me to bid 4♠ exclusion, I will bid grand slam anytime partner has two aces outside of spades."

I wish you to make your "exclusion" game on 4♠!

Spoiler

------------------------------------------------------

Misho

[luis]

mishovnbg, on Mar 22 2004, 03:53 PM, said:

Spoiler

-----------------------------------

Hi Ben!

"If you allow me to bid 4♠ exclusion, I will bid grand slam anytime partner has two aces outside of spades."

I wish you to make your "exclusion" game on 4♠!

Spoiler

------------------------------------------------------

Misho

How right you are Misho, over 1NT I bid 2s and the bidding tray was in the other side of the screen for ages and ages. I started to sweat.
Finally pd bid 3h and I jumped to 6d to prevent an accident.

LHO lead the cQ and pd said "Sorry I should;ve passed 2s" (!!)

---

Play for 12 tricks.
I decided that 8+2+2=12 was good enough. So I took the cA and played a diammond, 8 from my RHO Ace from my hand and LHO discarded. Down 1. The d8 was a variation of the Grossvenor gambit, if east plays the dJ/dT you always lose 1 trump but playing the 8 allows you to play the 9 and win but who would do that??? :-))